Hellgate London - Lifetime Subscription Details, Interview

September 12th, 2007, 09:16

You can can just feel the Hellgate: London PR push starting to move. Details of the Founders Offer preorder have been revealed, with those who are keen enough able to sign up for a $149.99 lifetime subscription…although if Hellgate: London's multiplayer modes don't take off, that lifetime could theoretically be rather short:

This limited-time offer allows you to make a one-time purchase of $149.99 USD to upgrade your Live online account to a lifetime subscription*. Please note that this offer expires after November 30, 2007. The Founders Offer will be available to you on your Account Management page once the retail game ships and you log into your Live account.

* "Lifetime Subscription" refers to the lifetime of the online subscription component for Hellgate: London, not the user's lifetime. Lifetime Subscription memberships are only available until November 30, 2007 for pre-order purchasers of Hellgate: London from participating retailers. Prior to purchasing a Lifetime Subscription, the purchasers of the Hellgate: London must complete their purchase of the Hellgate: London software and create a Hellgate: London online subscription account. The user acknowledges and agrees that: (a) the Hellgate: London online component, including, but not limited to the online subscription component may be cancelled at any time, without any refunds or other compensation to the user; (b) the Lifetime Subscription does not automatically grant access to expansions of Hellgate: London which are sold as individual products, as such products must be purchased separately; (c) the user must accept and abide by the End User License Agreement for Hellgate: London and the Terms of Service, Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy for the Hellgate: London online component, as each are modified from time to time, at all times prior to the purchase of a Lifetime Subscription; and (d) in addition to the foregoing, Ping0, LLC retains the right to cancel a Lifetime Subscription as set forth in the Terms of Service to the Hellgate: London online component.

In other HL news, Bill Roper has once again popped up in a new interview, this time at Level Up with Part 1 now available:

Between Resistance: Fall of Man, Hellgate: London, "28 Days Later" and "Children of Men," what is it about London and the apocalypse?
You know, one of the reasons we chose London, there's actually a couple of reasons. One, it's always been this epicenter of huge struggle. It was founded by druids originally when it was Londinium. Then I mean it's been taken over by the Vikings; by the Romans. There was the Blitz in World War II. It always seems to be this center for people wanting to take it. And for huge apocalyptic events happening. The Great Fire of 1666; the plague; the fact that it was just pummeled in World War II. When we were talking about where to set the game, that was really one of the big draws for us. We wanted a city that had a really good history to it, that had a foundation in mythology, and had a more mystical setting, which it does. I mean there's the fact that it was founded by druids. It's you know, built on lay lines, magical lay lines, and there's so many things about London that in reality, lend itself to being this kind of focal point for building stories. It just drew us there.

So you are paying $100 extra for the online basically with absolutely no guarantee of lifetime? But then the subscriptions are ~$10 a month? So for those planning to dig into the multiplayer heavily it isn't a bad deal.

Lmao at the stupidity of these devs, everyday it's something more stupid than the next.

It's for the life of the game and this is eletronic arts (iirc) and if your familar with their support for servers once they get the game box sold, as an eample battlefield, you will stay the hell away from this.

— Trust me, most of the names I have been called you can't translate in any language…they're not even real words as much as a succession of violent images.

It's nice that they give you a month to decide if the lifetime subscription will be worth it. Personally I think the more options the better, and if this game takes off there will probably be many people kicking themselves for not taking them up on the offer

Avogadro

Originally Posted by txa1265
So you are paying $100 extra for the online basically with absolutely no guarantee of lifetime? But then the subscriptions are ~$10 a month? So for those planning to dig into the multiplayer heavily it isn't a bad deal.

I think you are paying $149.99 extra. First buy the preorder ($50), then sign up for the lifetime subscription.

What I want to know is, since when was London founded by druids? My sporadic readings in history only pull up a small Celtic settlement later taken over by the Romans for it's advantageous position on the Thames. Lay lines, indeed.

I don't think its stupid at all. Its a good way to get cash in the bank. I'm betting this $150 doesn't extend to free future expansions either. The only thing they start "losing" would be after 15 months of gameplay. Subsidizing a single player is a small cost especially if that kind of player is hardcore and is recruiting.

—————-

I just read an extensive history of England and Magerette is absolutely 100&#37; correct.

The Romans founded the city Londinium and one of the walls still stands (its right at the entranceway to the Tower of London - I took pictures of it).

It was in fact the Celts that first burned it down. Queen Boudicca was ordered whipped and beaten and her daughters raped by order of Londinium's Roman tax collector. This united her tribe with many others and they went on 200 000? man rampage.

The Celtic druids themselves had just been slaughtered by the Roman army on an island in the Northwest. That same army had to come back to deal with Boudicca's mob while the tax collector fled.

It was only after this that Aire/Britannia was somewhat pacified.

The Britons are well aware of this history. Boudicca's statue now stands by Parliament (which, IMO doesn't belong there).

This might pass ok outside of the country but I'm curious if the locals will take issue with this. I can see the UK press jumping all over taking this much liberty.

Absolutely zero interest from me, but I would have thought the "correct" course would be to guarantee the $150 against the equivalent number of standard monthly payments - and if the service is removed before that time, the credit is applied to some other EA product or service (or whatever). Realistically, I don't think there is any great risk (and therefore I don't think there is any risk to EA/Flagship to make a guarantee), but I don't think the "no guarantees SUCKA!" message is very consumer friendly.

Since Bill Roper bashing is hip at the moment, I would like to add my favorite tasty irony. It relates to this news about subscriptions. The following quote is from a newsbit on this site further down.

Originally Posted by Reyla
Diablo fans are first and foremost? Really? Diablo fans liked Diablo 2 because multiplayer was free, Bill.

Are you implying that the only reason that Diablo 2 has sustained massive multiplayer support for years is because it was free, or that charging for D2 multi would have dampened the multi scene … or both?

My brain is rusty - what does the 'no charge' multi for Hellgate look like?

Battle net was revolutionary because it allowed people all over the world to play with and against each other for free. It is important to note that Battle net is not only Diablo 2. Starcraft and Warcraft multiplayer are free as well.

Roper and friends made Diablo 2 and Battle net and now they are making Hellgate but Hellgate multiplayer is more like an MMORPG than Diablo 2. This is my point.

… but now that the entire world is envious of the cash cow Blizzard has going on … can you blame companies for wanting to take all genres to some sort of "small" monthly fee?

I am not saying it is the right thing to do, I am just not surprised.

Free hosted game servers are unfortunately not big revenue generators, and we all know that more and more this "bottom line" approach is what drives game design today (by no coincidence leaves old-school gamers pining for pre-2K style of games).

My first gut reaction is to hate this, as it does strike me as a trial balloon for charging people for any and all multiplayer. I havent been interested in this game up to this point, and this certainly does nothing to warm me up to it.

— I dont dislike people - I just like them better when theyre not around